The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Director:

Lisa Cholodenko

Writers (WGA):

Lisa Cholodenko (written by) &
Stuart Blumberg (written by)

Release Date:

30 July 2010 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Nic and Jules had the perfect family, until they met the man who made it all possible.

Plot:

Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their father into their family life.

Plot Keywords:

Sperm | Sperm Donor | College | Biological Father | Sex

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 66 nominations

Cast

Julianne Moore	...	Jules
Annette Bening	...	Nic
Mark Ruffalo	...	Paul
Mia Wasikowska	...	Joni
Josh Hutcherson	...	Laser
Yaya Alafia	...	Tanya (as Yaya Dacosta)
Kunal Sharma	...	Jai
Eddie Hassell	...	Clay
Zosia Mamet	...	Sasha
Joaquín Garrido	...	Luis
Rebecca Lawrence Levy	...	Brooke (as Rebecca Lawrence)
Lisa Eisner	...	Stella
Eric Eisner	...	Joel
Sasha Spielberg	...	Waify Girl
James MacDonald	...	Clay's Dad (as James Macdonald)
Margo Victor	...	Bartender
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stuart Blumberg	...	Sous-chef (uncredited)
Diego Calderón	...	Waiter (uncredited)

Directed by
Lisa Cholodenko

Writing credits (WGA)
Lisa Cholodenko		(written by) &
Stuart Blumberg		(written by)

Produced by
Charles E. Bush Jr.	....	co-producer
Gary Gilbert	....	producer
J. Todd Harris	....	executive producer
Philippe Hellmann	....	producer: UGC PH
Jordan Horowitz	....	producer
Neil Katz	....	executive producer
Todd J. Labarowski	....	co-producer (as Todd Labarowski)
Jeffrey Levy-Hinte	....	producer
Riva Marker	....	executive producer
Camille Moreau	....	producer: UGC PH
Joel Newton	....	co-producer
Anne O'Shea	....	executive producer
Celine Rattray	....	producer
Laura Rosenthal	....	co-producer
Andy Sawyer	....	executive producer (as Andrew Sawyer)
Steven Saxton	....	executive producer
Christy Scott Cashman	....	executive producer (as Christy Cashman)
Ron Stein	....	executive producer
Bergen Swanson	....	co-producer
Daniela Taplin Lundberg	....	producer
Galt Niederhoffer	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Carter Burwell

Cinematography by
Igor Jadue-Lillo		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jeffrey M. Werner

Casting by
Laura Rosenthal

Production Design by
Julie Berghoff

Art Direction by
James Connelly		(as James Pearse Connelly)

Set Decoration by
David Cook

Costume Design by
Mary Claire Hannan

Makeup Department
Carl Bailey	....	key hair stylist
Cydney Cornell	....	hair department head
Daniel Curet	....	key hair stylist
Jason Green	....	hair stylist (as Jason Orion Green)
Valli O'Reilly	....	co-makeup department head
Elaine L. Offers	....	co-makeup department head (as Elaine Offers)
Ronnie Specter	....	makeup artist
Valli O'Reilly	....	personal makeup artist: Annette Bening (uncredited)

Production Management
James Debbs	....	post-production supervisor
Tracey Landon	....	production supervisor
Nic Marshall	....	executive in charge of production: Mandalay Vision
Bergen Swanson	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jasmine Alhambra	....	second assistant director (as Jasmine Marie Alhambra)
Emily Hogan	....	second second assistant director
Jesse Nye	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Leonardo Coleman	....	set dresser
Colman Costello	....	set dresser
James A. Costello	....	leadman
Chris Dinan	....	set dresser (as Christopher W.J. Dinan)
Josh Ian Elliott	....	on-set dresser (as Josh Elliott)
Christine Eyer	....	greens person
April Falzone	....	food stylist
Morgan Gillio	....	set dresser
Craig Glenn	....	assistant props
Gregory Holley	....	assistant props (as Greg Holley)
Karen Lee Holley	....	assistant propmaster (as Karen Holley)
Katia Kaplun	....	stand-by painter
Stephen Kelley Jr.	....	set dresser (as Steve Kelley Jr.)
Martin Leon	....	set dresser (as Martin Carrasco Leon)
Greg Manke	....	set dresser
Jeffrey M. O'Brien	....	propmaster
Cindy Peters	....	art department coordinator
John Stone	....	set dresser
Lisa Matsuura Walker	....	painter
Alexandra Dunn	....	art department assistant (uncredited)
Eric Schoonover	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Eric Bautista	....	utility sound (as Eric A. Bautista)
Jonathan Fuh	....	boom operator (as Jonathan Lee-Ger Fuh)
Frank Gaeta	....	sound designer
Frank Gaeta	....	sound re-recording mixer
Frank Gaeta	....	sound supervisor
José Antonio García	....	sound mixer (as Jose Antonio Garcia)
Patrick Giraudi	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Patrick Giuraudi)
Catherine Harper	....	foley artist
Joe Iemola	....	sound editor
Micah Littleton	....	sound services manager: Video Film Audio Forensics
Darrin Mann	....	foley recordist
Christopher Moriana	....	foley artist (as Chris Morianna)
Trevor Ward	....	sound consultant: Dolby
Elmo Weber	....	sound designer
Elmo Weber	....	sound re-recording mixer
Elmo Weber	....	sound supervisor
Eric Gitelson	....	adr engineer (uncredited)
Matthew Kallen	....	sound mix technician (uncredited)
Sean Madsen	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Jeff Seelye	....	adr assistant (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Neil Smith	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Floyd Burks	....	imaging technician: Technicolor Digital Intermediates
Charlotta Forssman	....	visual effects compositor: + Scale
Don Henry	....	data technician: Technicolor Digital Intermediates
Tim Heugle	....	data technician: Technicolor Digital Intermediates (as Tim Heugele)
Mark Hubbard	....	engineering: Technicolor Digital Internediates
Sung Kyu Koo	....	visual effects compositor: + Scale
Marcus Lansdell	....	executive producer: + Scale
Joshua Pines	....	imaging r&d: Technicolor Digital Intermediates
Todd Sines	....	lead visual effects compositor: + Scale
Brad Sutton	....	digital restoration: Technicolor Digital Intermediates
Wilson Tang	....	digital restoration: Technicolor Digital Intermediates

Stunts
Darrell Davis	....	stunt rigger (as Darrell Craig Davis)
Sean Graham	....	stunt double: Mark Ruffalo
Cassidy Hice	....	stunts
Mark Norby	....	stunt coordinator
William R. Spencer	....	stunts (as William Spencer)

Camera and Electrical Department
Tigran Aguasaryan	....	grip (as Tigran Aghasaryan)
Edward V. Bauman	....	grip
Christopher Bernal	....	electrician
David Bouza	....	electrician
Demetrie Cooley	....	best boy grip
Richard Cronin	....	electrician (as Rick Cronin)
Ricky Diaz	....	grip
Michael DiGiovanni	....	rigging best boy grip (as Michael Digiovanni)
Erik A. Erichsen	....	electrician
Vernon Evans	....	video technician
Mark Figueroa	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Mark Figueroa	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Mark Figueroa	....	first assistant camera:
Vadim Frumin	....	grip (as Vadim Frumin Landau)
Alexander W. Gage	....	rigging grip (as Alex Gage)
Oscar Garcia	....	grip
Jordan Garretson	....	grip
Bill Greenberg	....	rigging gaffer
Seth Greenwald	....	dolly grip
Jeffrey B. Gregg	....	grip
John Joleaud	....	electrician
Greg Karamov	....	key grip
Ted Kennedy	....	rigging key grip (as Ted S. Kennedy)
Julian Lopez	....	grip (as Julian S. Lopez)
Carson E. Mayne	....	rigging electrician
Dayton Nietert	....	gaffer
Mike Pachio	....	rigging grip (as Michael E. Pacheco)
Leoncio Provoste	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Gaston Richmond	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Chis Rountree	....	rigging grip (as Chris B. Rountree)
Jesse Rushton	....	best boy electric
Jason P. Salinas	....	electrician
Jose Santiago	....	grip (as Jose A. Santiago)
Alex Scott	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Adam Sheedy	....	grip
Lucas Solomon	....	video playback coordinator
Doug I. Soto	....	rigging electrician
Miguel Sánchez	....	electrician (as Miguel Sanchez)
Suzanne Tenner	....	still photographer
Aaron Ali Tichenor	....	camera loader (as Aaron Tichenor)
Fred Troeskin	....	grip (as Fred Troesken)
Neil Young	....	balloon technician

Casting Department
Chris Bustard	....	extras casting
Liz Dean	....	casting: Los Angeles
Maribeth Fox	....	casting associate
Eric Souliere	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jacqueline Aronson	....	costume supervisor
Kathryn L. Bucher	....	costumer
Sharon Fauvel	....	head ager/dyer
Lisa Marie Harris	....	set costumer
Vikki Paschetto	....	wardrobe assistant
Sierra Robinson	....	additional costumer (as Sierra Bay Robinson)
Riki Lin Sabusawa	....	additional costumer (as Riki Sabusawa)

Editorial Department
Robert Drwila	....	first assistant editor (as Bob Drwila)
Jason Fabbro	....	digital film colorist: Technicolor Digital Intermediates
Esther Lee	....	digital intermediate producer: Technicolor Digital Intermediates
Deanna O'Neil	....	dailies project manager
Nancy Richardson	....	additional editor
Mark Sahagun	....	digital intermediate editor: Technicolor Digital Intermediates
Marc Wielage	....	colorist: dailies
Dan Williams	....	digital color assistant
Jeff Smithwick	....	film timer (uncredited)

Music Department
Jennifer Barak	....	music editor (as Jenny Barak)
Carter Burwell	....	conductor
Carter Burwell	....	music arranger
Carter Burwell	....	musician: keyboards
Michael Farrow	....	score recording engineer
Dean Parker	....	assistant to composer
John Pattitucci	....	musician: bass
Marc Ribot	....	musician: guitar
Liza Richardson	....	music supervisor
Bryan Smith	....	assistant engineer
Jake Belnick	....	assistant to music supervisor (uncredited)
Michael Perfitt	....	engineer: original songs (uncredited)
Michael Perfitt	....	mixer: original songs (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Luke H. Atkine	....	driver
Tony Barattini	....	driver
Mike Belt	....	driver (as Michael R. Belt)
Jody Bingenheimer	....	driver
Angel Desanti	....	driver (as Angel De Santi)
Audrey Fitzgerald	....	driver
Wayne Flowers Jr.	....	driver (as Wayne Flowers)
Geno Hart	....	transportation coordinator
Chris Haynes	....	driver
Kirk Huston	....	driver
Hardy Ophuls	....	transportation captain
Marty Osborne	....	picture vehicle captain (as Martin Osbourne)
John Pellegrino	....	transportation co-captain
Adam Pinkstaff	....	transportation captain
Santos P. Rodriguez	....	driver: catering
Carlos M. Serrano	....	driver
Steven Luke Weible	....	driver (as Steve Weible)
Dave Wilson	....	driver

Other crew
Caroline Applegarth	....	assistant: Ms. Moore (as Caroline T. Applegarth)
Mark Asaro	....	production coordinator
William Batsel	....	set production assistant
Tyler Beem	....	set production assistant
Shauna Bogetz	....	assistant: Mr. Gilbert
Shauna Bogetz	....	production executive: Gilbert Films
Robert Cable	....	production accountant
Donald Chambers	....	office production assistant
Dan Cowan	....	customer service representative: Technicolor
James Debbs	....	project supervisor: Antidote International Films
Gabriel Dell Jr.	....	stand-in: Mr. Ruffalo (as Gabe Dell)
Alexandra Dunn	....	intern
Kathy England	....	production insurance: Taylor & Taylor
Charles Fagin	....	key assistant location manager
Lennon Ficalora	....	intern
Heather Fielding	....	studio teacher
Caroline Fife	....	set production assistant
Marie Paule Goislard	....	location scout
Andy Goldman	....	title designer: main titles
Meredith Greenberg	....	set production assistant (as Meredith Anne Greenberg)
Jenny Halper	....	development executive: Mandalay Vision
Celia Hemken	....	stand-in: Ms. Moore
Dan Hemphill	....	payroll accountant
Andres M. Hernandez	....	cook
Takeo Hori	....	vice president: Antidote International Films
Shawn Hueston	....	assistant location manager
Toni Kallen	....	stand-in: Ms. Benning & Ms. Wasikowska
Jamie Kemp	....	head chef
Jeff Korson	....	assistant location manager
Courtney LaBree	....	assistant production coordinator (as Courtney Labree)
Paul T. List	....	assistant: Mr. Levy-Hinte
Tiffany Lo	....	assistant to producer
Tiffany Lo	....	cast assistant
Margaret Martinez	....	first assistant accountant
Ilana McAllister	....	payroll accountant
Richard McCune	....	financing: City National Bank
Leslie Merlin	....	set production assistant
Robert Morris	....	set production assistant
Brian Nailing	....	cook
Sam Nainoa	....	set production assistant (as Sam K. Nainoa III)
Alex O'Flinn	....	set production assistant
Henrik Pellier	....	set production assistant
Anthony Penido	....	set medic (as Tony Pendido)
Erik Piecuch	....	financing: City National Bank
Bianca Poletti	....	intern
Rebecca Robertson	....	script supervisor (as Rebecca Robertson-Szwaja)
Lili Romero	....	office production assistant
Rachel Rosales	....	intern
Jackson Rowe	....	key production assistant
Kathy Ruiz	....	office manager: Antedote International Films
Megan Schmidt	....	set production assistant
Ned R. Shapiro	....	location manager (as Ned Shapiro)
Daniel Shine	....	set medic
Mark Shockley	....	electronic press kit
Wednesday Standley	....	assistant: Mark Ruffalo
Jack Stern	....	studio teacher
Nathaniel Stutz	....	assistant: Ms. Cholodenko
Diane Upson	....	executive: Technicolor
Diana Van Leeuwen	....	set production assistant
Dan Wesselman	....	key account manager: Technicolor
Gary Woldman	....	craft service
Nicolas Zapata	....	set production assistant
Michael Barnes	....	financial legal services (uncredited)
Steve Berman	....	completion bond (uncredited)
Shauna Bogetz	....	production executive: Antedote International Films (uncredited)
Alish Erman	....	intern (uncredited)
Deanna O'Neil	....	dailies project manager (uncredited)
Marc H. Simon	....	legal counsel (uncredited)
Adam M. Stone	....	product placement coordinator (uncredited)
Cat Stone	....	product placement coordinator (uncredited)

Thanks
Rori Bergman	....	special thanks
Carter Cohn	....	special thanks
Warner Ebbink	....	special thanks
Scott Ferguson	....	special thanks
Juan Guzman	....	special thanks: Los Angeles City Parks
Stephen Halls	....	special thanks
Frank Harris	....	special thanks: Ocean View Community Gardens
Michael Hausman	....	special thanks
Jennifer Hoopes	....	special thanks
Kevin Huvane	....	special thanks
April Janow	....	special thanks
Bill Johnson	....	special thanks
Jamie Kapel	....	special thanks
Nathan Larson	....	special thanks
Jeffrey Levy-Hinte	....	special thanks
Tony Lipp	....	special thanks
Caryn Marcus	....	special thanks
Emilio Mauro	....	special thanks
Gaby Morgerman	....	special thanks
Evelyn O'Neill	....	special thanks
Pamela Pickering	....	special thanks
Milton Radutzky	....	special thanks
Richard Radutzky	....	special thanks
Irwin Rappaport	....	special thanks
Carter Reedy	....	special thanks
Ira Resnick	....	special thanks
Stephanie Ritz	....	special thanks
Jim Seibel	....	special thanks
Catherine Shao	....	special thanks
John Sloss	....	special thanks
Robert Stein	....	special thanks
Bart Walker	....	special thanks
Craig Wedren	....	special thanks
David Paul Wichert	....	special thanks
Joshua Zeman	....	special thanks
Robert Ziembicki	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Focus Features (presents)
• Gilbert Films (presents)
• Saint Aire Production (in association with)
• Artist International (in association with)
• 10th Hole Productions (in association with)
• Antidote Films (I)
• Mandalay Vision
• Artist International Management (uncredited)

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2010) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2010) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Alliance Films (2010) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Benelux Film Distributors (2011) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Caravella DDC (2011) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2011) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Festive Films (2011) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Focus Features (2010) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hopscotch Films (2010) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Showgate (2011) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2010) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2010) (Ireland) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Amuse Soft Entertainment (2011) (Japan) (DVD)
• Bir Film (2011) (Turkey) (all media)
• Castello Lopes Multimédia (2010) (Portugal) (all media)
• Film1 (2011) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Imagem Filmes (2010) (Brazil) (all media)
• Panorama Distributions (2011) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Panorama Distributions (2011) (Hong Kong) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2010) (Finland) (all media)
• Seven Films (2011) (Greece) (all media)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2011) (Argentina) (DVD)
• UGC PH (2010) (France) (all media)
• Universal Pictures (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Vértigo Films (2011) (Spain) (all media)

Special Effects

• Scale (digital visual effects) (as + Scale)

Other Companies

• American Humane Association, The  animal action monitoring (as American Humane)
• Body, The  score mixed at (as The Body Studio, New York)
• COLT Studio Group  courtesy: footage from "The Best of Colt 3 & 4" and "5 * 6"
• Cast & Crew Production Services  cast and crew payroll services
• Central Casting  extras payroll services
• Cinetic Media  financing and distribution advisory services
• City National Bank  financing
• Clairmont Camera  cameras (as Clairmont)
• Clinton Recording Studios  score recorded at (as Clinton Recording Studio, New York)
• Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard  legal counsel
• Digital Media Services (DMS)  digital marketing asset management (uncredited)
• Film Finances  completion guarantor (uncredited)
• For Stars Catering  catering
• Free City  special thanks
• G & J Grip  grip equipment (as G&J Grip Co.)
• Intelligent Media  international monitoring agency (uncredited)
• J.L. Fisher  camera support (as J.L. Fisher, Inc.)
• Kodak  motion picture film
• Lakeshore Records  soundtrack (uncredited)
• Little Dom's  special thanks
• Mattel Inc.  courtesy: Scrabble
• Monkeyland Audio  sound re-recording (uncredited)
• Movie Movers  production vehicles
• National Geographic Channel  courtesy: footage from "Locked Up Abroad, Uganda"
• Partizan Entertainment  special thanks
• Paskal Lighting  electric equipment (as Paskal)
• Penmar Park and Recreation Center: The staff of  special thanks
• Post Haste Sound  re-recording mix services (uncredited)
• Prop Houses of Los Angeles  special thanks
• Radio Station KGRW  audio clip: radio show (as KGRW)
• Screen Actors Guild (SAG)  logo
• Sound for Film  audio post-production services
• Sound for Film  sound re-recording
• Stone Management  product placement (uncredited)
• Taylor & Taylor  production insurance
• Technicolor Digital Intermediates  post-production services
• Television Food Network LLC  audio clip (as Television Food Network, G.P.)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some teen drug and alcohol use

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Japan:R15+ (edited version) | USA:R (certificate #46022) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:18A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Québec) | UK:15 | Ireland:16 (cinema rating) | Malaysia:18 | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-15 | Australia:MA | Norway:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Argentina:16 | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:R21 | Portugal:M/16 | Chile:14 | Brazil:16 | Ireland:15 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:12 | Denmark:11 | Germany:12 | Japan:R18+ (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Focus Features

Trivia:

Annette Bening's favourite scene is when Jules and Nic are telling Paul how they first met, and watching Joni and Laser cringe at the erotic details.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene concerning Tanya and Paul, as he discusses the phone call from the sperm bank, the necklace Tanya is wearing disappears then reappears.

Quotes:

Paul:Shut the front door!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "IMDb's 20th Anniversary Star of the Day: Jennifer Todd (#1.22)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

Same High

Making heroes out of the wrong characters!

'THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

This indie critical darling is one of the best reviewed movies of the year and up until the climax I thought it was a pretty impressive little film. It is a well acted and realistic character study though with the likes of Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Hutcherson and 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND's Mia Wasikowska. It's directed and co-written by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg (who also wrote 'KEEPING THE FAITH' and co-wrote 'THE GIRL NEXT DOOR', which I'm a big fan of both). The acting is all impressive, especially Ruffalo and Bening. Moore is good but she's been much better, maybe it's just the character she's playing here that doesn't give her as much to work with. The directing is adequate and fitting to the material and the screenplay is full of natural and believable characters and dialog. Even the ending, which I didn't like, seems believable it's just that it turns the film into a much less valuable learning lesson.

The film tells the story of Joni (Wasikowska) and Laser (Hutcherson) a brother and sister conceived through artificial insemination by their unhappy mothers Nic (Bening) and Jules (Moore). Joni is Nic's biological daughter and Laser is Jule's biological son and they were both conceived from the same sperm donor Paul (Ruffalo). On her eighteenth birthday, when she's legally able to do so without the consent of her mother, Joni contacts her biological father and she and Laser meet him secretly. Later their mothers find out about this and before allowing them to see him again demand to meet him as well. Nic, the controlling working mother, is very upset by the sudden involvement of Paul in her children lives but Jules (who has mostly been a stay at home mom) warms to him after he hires her to design and construct his back yard. Paul is a free spirited, fun loving co-op farmer and restaurant owner. This clashes with Nic but the rest of the family enjoys spending time with him and he really learns to love them as well. Complications arise.

I was really fascinated by all of the characters and learned to really like them, all except for maybe Nic who was just a little to controlling and self righteous (but believable). Paul to me was the most relate-able and likable character and the story and growth of all of the characters kind of revolve around him. Without giving away too much the movie ends in conflict and one of the characters is sort of used and abused and left with a lot of unfair judgment placed upon him. It is realistic and believable though it just seems like the movie is making heroes out of the wrong characters and villains out of others, that don't deserve it. This left me very much disappointed in the movie as a whole and that's why I can't overwhelmingly recommend it.

Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOOi1HDSXyA